Clerk defies US high court, denies gay marriage licenses – Reuters

A person walks across a rainbow pedestrian crossing on a road in West Hollywood, United States, June 26, 2015.

Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

A Kentucky county clerk, defying a new U.S. Supreme Court decision, rejected requests for marriage licenses from three same-sex couples on Tuesday in a deepening legal standoff now two months old, attorneys for the couples said. Citing her religious objections, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has refused to issue any marriage licenses since the Supreme Court in June ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry under the U.S. Constitution.On Monday the same court rejected Davis’ request for an emergency order allowing her to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples while she appeals a federal judge’s order requiring her to issue them.Eight people filed a federal lawsuit against Davis in July challenging her office’s policy of not issuing marriage licenses to any couples – gay or straight.U.S. District Judge David Bunning, who last month said Davis had to live up to her responsibilities as county clerk despite her religious convictions, scheduled a call for Tuesday with Davis’ attorneys and those for the couples who sued the clerk, attorney Joe Dunman said. Dunman said Davis’ office rejected a request on Tuesday for a marriage license from same-sex couple April Miller and Karen Ann Roberts, his clients and one of several couples who had sued Davis’ office. Will Smith and James Yates, another same-sex couple, also were denied a license on Tuesday, their attorney Kash Stilz said. A third same-sex couple, David Ermold and David Moore, also were denied a license.”We were denied again,” Moore said in a text message. “We spoke with Kim again and it was a very heated exchange.”

‘UNDER GOD’S AUTHORITY’Neither Davis’ office nor her attorneys could be reached immediately for comment, but Kentucky Public Radio quoted her as saying on Tuesday that she made the decision to continue denying marriage licenses “under God’s authority.” Davis also told a gay couple she turned away, “I just want you all to know that we are not issuing marriage licenses today,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Miller said an official in the clerk’s office told Miller and her partner that Davis would go on denying marriage licenses pending an appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.Outside the office in Morehead, Kentucky, large crowds supporting both sides on the …Read More